


Come Hither Night, Come Hither

by catsincafes



Category: Twelfth Night - Shakespeare
Genre: Alcohol, Drinking, Gender Dysphoria, Genderqueer Character, M/M, Party, Trans Cesario, Trans Cesario theory, Trans Male Character, eating grapes as a midnight snack, potential spice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:06:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25641784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsincafes/pseuds/catsincafes
Summary: Cesario was never quite fond of parties, but he doesn't mind admiring his lord from across a crowded room.
Relationships: Orsino/Viola | Cesario (Twelfth Night)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Cesario stood in the corner of the room glancing at all the people walking past. Another one of the duke’s frivolous parties, where Orsino had begged Cesario to stay, going on about how there would be so many interesting people to talk to, and so much food, and this and that. And yet, Cesario would have much rather been up in his room away from the gaggle of women shooting quick stares at him and giggling in shrill shrieks, the red cheeked man shoving five different cheeses in his mouth as though he’s about to go into hibernation, and the scrawny boy rattling of a story about his archery prowess far to loudly to a very uninterested girl. All of this made Cesario’s head ache, dealing with the duke daily got his head in a mess, and now there were all these people he had to deal with too. 

Speak of the devil, or rather think of the devil, Cesario thought as his stare passed the group of giggling women once more before landing on the duke himself, who had decided that these failed opera singers were the company he wanted to surround himself with tonight. Cesario continued his people watching, but found himself constantly going back to watching the women. Cesario watched as the duke waved his hands in front of him surely recounting some astonishing story about how he nearly lost his leg to a 10 meter tall bear in a hunting incident, or saved an innocent child from a mountain lion, or nearly got cursed by a traveling witch for not marrying her daughter. All extraordinary and all absurd, and all tales that Cesario had heard in some form or another. But he still found himself captivated by it all, how Orsino moved his hands intricately as he told a particularly gripping part of his tale, how he scrunched up his face trying to remember all the details, how he even laughed with the women as he recalled some silly mistake he had made. Orsino’s flair for dramatics helped in his storytelling, and Cesario couldn’t help but stare. Before long Orsino had finished the tale and was chatting up a storm with the women, one glanced over at Cesario and Cesario quickly averted his gaze from the group, feeling his face slightly heat up from making brief eye contact with one of the women. When Cesario finally looked back he was greeted with Orsino looking at him. Orsino gave him a large smile and Cesario returned it with a much less enthusiastic one. 

Before long the group was approaching him, and Cesario, who had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t interact with any of the guests tonight was having a very hard time disappearing into the wall. 

“Cesario!” Orsino exclaimed as he reached him, “my dear boy, why don’t I introduce you to these wonderful ladies I’ve been talking to?” Orsino reached his hand around Cesario’s shoulders and said in what must have been an attempt to whisper, “they’ve been inquiring about you.”

The women giggled and Cesario smiled politely at them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” 

“Cesario here is my most humble servant.” Orsino continued, “he’s been such marvelous help.” Cesario could smell the wine on the duke’s breath.

“I simply do what I must to help the duke and the house.” he replied.

“Oh I’m so glad the duke has found a trustworthy servant!” one of the women responded. 

“Ah, I trust this young man with my life!” Orsino said, ruffling Cesario’s close cropped brown hair. 

Cesario could feel his face heat up slightly but nonetheless held his composure. The women giggled and one by one introduced themselves. Then came the questions about Cesario’s interests, what he did, where he was from, and the most dreaded question: “how old exactly are you?” which one of the women, now known to Cesario as Liliana, asked, tilting her head to the side as though the question of his age was one of the hardest puzzles to solve. Cesario hated this question, ever since he’d come to the duke’s court everyone had assumed he couldn’t have been older than 20, when the truth was he was always at least five years older than what everyone assumed. He never fully answered the question either, he didn’t want to settle on a fake age, because surely if he ever said how old he really was the court would have quite a struggle trying to find out how a 26 year old young man could have such a soft round face and be as short as him (not that one meter seventy was necessarily that short, but he was still noticeably shorter than all the men in the court.) 

“He can’t be much older than your sister!” Another woman, Beth, said.

“Now ladies, isn’t it rude to ask someone their age?” Orsino cut into the conversation. The women giggled. 

“It’s only rude to ask  _ women _ their age.” Liliana laughed, “But I won't pry further.” 

After a bit more small talk, the duke left to go mingle with the rest of the guests and the women decided to continue their conversation with Cesario right in the middle of them. It felt like he was trapped between their stiff satin skirts. Cesario glanced around hoping to find some form of an escape route before his eyes caught those of one of his fellow staff members, Bernardo.

Bernardo was a tall burly boy who worked in the kitchen, at the present moment he was carrying an empty platter that had once contained hors d'oeuvres as he wiggled his way through the crowd. He smiled at Cesario upon catching his distressed stare and worked his way towards him. 

“Pardon me” Bernardo bowed ever so slightly, letting a loose black curl fall onto his forehead, before grabbing Cesario by the elbow, “Cesario here is needed in the kitchen.” He directed his low voice to the women and gave them a subtle smile.

Bernardo dragged Cesario away before the women could respond. 

***

“Ya know, I wish I could get pinned up against the wall by three beautiful women, you’re really living the life Cesario” Bernardo tossed a loose grape into his mouth. 

Cesario laughed, “maybe if the circumstances were different.”

“A man of fine tastes!” Bernardo exclaimed before erupting into laughter. Cesario gave a few chuckles as well before leaning against the wooden counter and looking over Bernardo. Bernardo, bless his soul, was the type of man who couldn’t tell a pigeon from a butterfly, but he somehow always managed to look out for Cesario during these parties. 

“So how’d you manage to get stuck with them anyway?” Bernardo pushed a few curls from his forehead, leaning back against the counter as well. 

Cesario rolled his eyes and recounted how Orsino had brought the women over.

Bernardo laughed again, “the duke must really like you.” 

“I suppose so.” Cesario smiled, mostly to himself.

“Introducing you to those women while nearly drunk, ha!” Bernardo picked another grape from the bowl in front of him and tossed it into his mouth. “Well I should probably be making another round through the party” he got up from the counter and began refilling his tray. “Don’t stay in here too long, the duke might get antsy” Bernardo gave a little chuckle and left the kitchen, full tray in hand. 

Cesario sighed and picked a grape from the bowl on the counter, feeling it’s smoothness between his fingers before popping it into his mouth.

It’s not that he minded parties, or even minded the people who were here, he just hated the feeling of eyes prying into him. And in a place like this, with people like that, that’s all he ever felt.


	2. Chapter 2

After spending what simultaneously felt like too long and too short of a time sitting with his back against the cool checker tiled kitchen wall, Cesario finally got up, sighing and stretching his legs. It would be better to head back to the party rather than sneak up to his room, he thought, although sneaking up there was tempting. Orsino might be getting worried, or he might not be, distracted by all the guests trying to get his attention. Whatever the case was, it would still be amusing to watch the duke fumble over his words yet charm his guests nonetheless. Cesario left the dim kitchen heading back down the hall to the heart of the party. The lights in the ballroom washed into the foyer. It was as though the single room was illuminating the entire house, making the entire estate shine against the darkness of the sky, competing against the glimmering half moon. Cesario could hear the loud slurred voices of the guests increase as he walked down the foyer. there was the occasional high pitched laugh and excited gibberish too. He ran his fingers through his short wavy hair, smoothing it out before entering the room. 

Upon entrance, Cesario once more took his place against the wall, scanning the room until his eyes landed on Duke Orsino, the tall- somewhat lanky- yet nonetheless handsome duke who took up quite a bit of Cesario’s mindspace, who in this present moment was being talked to by a hefty man with a booming voice. Cesario watched as the man laughed loudly at something he’d just said himself and Orsino gave a polite chuckle before looking down into the glass of red liquid in his hand. The man smacked Orsino hard on the back catching him off guard and nearly knocking him over. Cesario laughed quietly to himself watching the spectacle. The man laughed loudly once more before starting a sermon on something or another. The duke fiddled with his glass as he nodded along to whatever the man was saying. Cesario watched as the man continued his speech, Orsino supposedly deciding that the speech wasn’t to his liking stared past the man and slowly began looking around the room. Cesario watched carefully before the duke’s eyes caught his. Cesario smiled-almost smirked. The duke’s eyes widened and he gave a wide smile back before turning to the man who was talking to him and clapping him on the shoulder. Cesario laughed silently to himself once more and Orsino made his way towards the younger man, weaving through the crowd. Cesario looked over the duke’s outfit as he approached. It was rather interesting, he thought, why the duke had chosen to wear almost entirely all black. It could’ve been mourning clothes, save for the subtle hints of gold here and there. Cesario thought the duke looked quite dashing in the ensemble and even if he was wearing mourning clothes he would have still looked handsome. Even on those mornings when Cesario would wake the duke and he’d catch sight of him with his short dark hair sticking up on all ends and his tired unshaven face, and his wrinkled up nightshirt, he would still think the duke looked incredibly handsome. And then he caught himself, there he was again, letting Orsino take up his thought  _ again _ . Cesario sighed, collecting himself before Orsino got to him.

“My good boy!” Orsino exclaimed as he reached Cesario, “I lost sight of you and my great uncle over there would not stop going on and on about some political affairs he had his hands in at some point in time, goodness it was such a dull tale I don’t know how I survived, god I need better company, and now you’re here, absolutely magnificent.” The duke slurred his words slightly and Cesario could tell the liquor in his glass was getting to him. 

“Ah, my lord” Cesario started, Orsino looked back at him through his half lidded eyes. Cesario felt his heart speed up a little in his chest, he cleared his throat, “Maybe I should get you a glass of water.”

“Wait, don’t leave when I just found you.”

Cesario paused. Had Orsino been looking for him this entire time?

“I’ll simply have to come with you!” proclaimed Orsino. 

Cesario laughed slightly at Orsino’s over excited proclamation on visiting the kitchens. 

“Won’t your guests miss you?”

“pfft, they’re far too drunk now to realize that I’m gone, look at them!”

Cesario scanned the crowd, sure enough more than half the people in the room looked visibly drunk, what happened while he was in the kitchen? had Bernardo spiked the ...wine? (was that what everyone was drinking, or had they moved on to harder liquor, so it wasn’t bernardo’s doing after all?) had they all played some sort of drinking game? He supposed it wasn’t that weird, nobles had to let themselves go every once in a while. “I suppose you’re correct, my lord” Cesario said, “follow me.”

“Woohoo, to the kitchens!” Orsino exclaimed in a whisper.

Cesario let out another small chuckle and started heading towards the kitchen.

Cesario silently grabbed a small metal cup and ladled some water into it before handing it to Orsino and leaning back against the counter. Orsino eagerly gulped up the water, emptying the cup. “Ready to go back to the party?” Cesario asked. Orsino yawned. “Or go to sleep?”

“I wouldn’t mind going to bed,” Orsino looked down at Cesario.

Cesario felt his face heat up slightly, but he was sure the duke didn’t intend to make any sort of suggestions with his statement. 

Orsino looked back up, “Ah well, it would be very rude of me, as the host, to retire first from the party. But perhaps I’ll just spend a minute longer away from them, a small break.”

“If that’s what you wish m’lord.” Cesario nodded and moved his hand in front of Orsino to collect the cup. Orsino looked at his hand...confused. Cesario laughed slightly, “may I take the cup my lord?”

“Ah yes! the cup! of course!” Orsino placed the cup in Cesario’s hand and their fingers brushed against each other. Cesario glanced up to see Orsino still looking at him with the same half lidded eyes as before. Orsino’s fingers were lingering against Cesario’s for far too long. 

“my boy?”

“yes?”

“May I…” Orsino’s gaze shifted down from Cesario’s eyes to his lips. 

Cesario’s eyes widened and he glanced down at Orsino’s lips before moving his eyes back up, catching Orsino’s dark eyes in his. 

“May I?” Orsino repeated, now merely what felt like a few centimeters away from Cesario’s face. 

“please” Cesario whispered. 

Orsino closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to Cesario’s. 

Oh my god, the duke is kissing me, Cesario thought, kissing back. 

Orsino’s lips were soft, and maybe a bit small but Cesario didn’t mind. Cesario had to crane his neck a bit to reach the duke, but he didn’t mind that either. He could taste the wine Orsino had been drinking all night on his lips, it was a pleasant sweet taste, he thought it added something to the whole experience of being kissed by the duke. Orsino reached a hand up, gently placing it on Cesario’s cheek. Cesario’s heart raced, he was most definitely internally screaming, in a pleasant way, of course. Cesario’s own free hand found its way to Orsino’s side and Orsino momentarily deepened the kiss, letting his tongue dart into Cesario’s mouth. Cesario gasped, letting the cup that he was _ still _ holding fall to the floor. The loud metal clang brought both men back to their senses, and they jumped back, out of each other's embrace. 

“O-oh god, the cup!” Cesario said, looking down at the metal cup rolling around on the tiled floor. “ha, I uh, forgot I was holding it” he bent down, picking it up, and finally looking at the duke. When he looked up, he saw that the duke’s bright red cheeks mirrored his own, and he quickly averted his gaze back onto the cup. Oh god, he looks so cute, Cesario thought, beforing standing back up and placing the cup on the counter. Cesario let his eyes linger on the cup, he didn’t want to look at the duke again just yet, and he didn’t want the duke to see how fiercely he was blushing after one simple kiss. 

“Cesario?”

“Yes, my lord?” Cesario hesitated to look up at the duke.

Orsino placed his hand on Cesario’s chin gently lifting his head up as to meet his gaze. Cesario was once again looking into the duke’s dark eyes and the duke reached down once more and kissed Cesario. It was still a gentle kiss-but distinctly deeper than the first. Cesario kissed back, enjoying the feeling of the duke’s soft, sweet lips on his. Orsino moved the hand that was holding Cesario’s chin to his cheek and his free hand onto Cesario’s hip. Cesario let his hand rest against the counter and brought the other one up, letting his fingers slide into the duke's hair, feeling the soft strands. Maybe this wasn’t the exact setting he’d imagined first kissing Orsino in, but it was wonderful nonetheless. Orsino deepened the kiss yet again, his tongue sliding along Cesario’s lips until he parted them. Cesario pulled the duke closer against him until he felt his back hit the counter. Orsino gave a few more almost desperate kisses before pulling away, nuzzling his face in Cesario’s neck and giving a few much more delicate kisses. Cesario’s breath felt heavy.

Orsino looked up at him, “Would you perhaps like to accompany me to my room?” 

Cesario felt his face heat up and his blush spread all the way down to his chest. He pushed the lord away, “aren’t you needed back at the party?”. As pleasant as spending the night with Orsino sounded, he was still needed at his party, he had said it himself earlier; it would be very rude to retire from the party early, after all he was the host, and people were probably starting to get worried...well...maybe.

“Ah….well….” Orsino started, straightening up a bit, maybe realizing the situation he was in.

“My lord, I am sure the guests have already started to wonder where their host is.”

“Well why don’t we let them wonder?” Orsino stroked Cesario’s cheek. And god, it felt wonderful. But there were quite a few reasons Cesario could think of that didn’t make tonight the ideal night to be secretly running away into the duke’s room to spend the night with him. First, there were all these guests, and if they didn’t end up looking for Orsino then surely one of the other servants would, and what a mortifying ordeal it would be if the duke and his page were found entangled in each other's arms. Second, well, it was quite obvious that Orsino had drank a lot tonight, and secretly kissing in the kitchens was one thing but anything past that, well, he didn’t want to take advantage of the lord. And although Cesario trusted the duke, he didn’t want this to be how he found out about his “secret”. 

Cesario pulled away, looking up at Orsino, and god, he looked gorgeous, with his half lidded eyes, his red tinged cheeks, and his kiss swollen lips. Cesario wanted to grab his face and kiss him again and again and again. He sighed, now is not the time. 

“My lord, we’ve spent far to long in the kitchens, it’s likely your guests have even started to wonder where I am...and if you’re unlucky maybe they’ve started to put two and two together and realized that the lord has gone away somewhere with his servant” 

Orsino’s eyes widened slightly and he let his hand fall from where it was on Cesario’s face. He looked down. “Maybe you’re right” He sighed, running his other hand through his short hair, “I acted foolishly, I let the wine get the best of me...and...I...I shouldn't have” Orsino looked back up at Cesario and ran his hands over his face, “my behavior got...out of hand, my apologies my boy.”

“My lord-”

“You’re right, I’m needed back at the party, wouldn’t want people thinking anything...unsavory” Orsino turned away and walked out of the kitchens, heading back to the party. 

And once again, Cesario was left alone in the kitchen.


End file.
